$21 million contract awarded for Tahoe highway overhaul

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KINGS BEACH, Calif. — The Placer County Board of Supervisors last Tuesday awarded a $21.375 million contract to Sparks, Nev.-based Q&D Construction for main work on the Kings Beach Commercial Core Improvement Project.

The county received five bids for the “Core of the Core” project, according to a press release, with Q&D submitting the winning bid.

Projects within “Core of the Core” include construction of sidewalks, curbs and gutters, bicycle lanes, intersections, public parking facilities and streetscape improvements along the 1.1-mile stretch of Highway 28 between Highway 267 and Chipmunk Street on Lake Tahoe’s North Shore.

“Everyone, from the local level to the federal level, realizes that we need to do all we can to stop the loss of clarity that Lake Tahoe has suffered since the 1950s,” said Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery, whose fifth district includes Lake Tahoe, in a statement. “The project hits the sweet spot of the triple bottom line. It will not only help economically revitalize the Kings Beach commercial core, and will create a cohesive, walkable community, but will serve as a model on how to improve the health of Lake Tahoe.”

Besides improvements, the project will provide treatment for stormwater runoff that flows at a clip of 45,000 pounds of sediment annually into Lake Tahoe, officials said.

“It is rewarding to see all the work that the residents, the businesses and county staff has been molded into a project that will make Kings Beach more attractive, and a safer place for residents and visitors to travel through and have improved non-motorized modes of accessibility in the community,” said Dan Laplante, associate civil engineer with the Placer County Department of Public Works, in a statement.

In September, county supervisors OK’d a $2.39 million construction management contract for the “Core of the Core” phase to Colorado-based CH2M Hill, Inc.

Work is expected to begin in April 2014 and will take two construction seasons, if not three, according to previous reports. The project and construction management services are funded through various federal, state and local sources.

An additional $10 million is needed to build elements for Phase 2 of the project, which includes various highway and drainage improvements. Completion of both phases is not expected until at least 2017.